Anonymous13 days ago
President Trump has designated U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack as Special Presidential Envoy to both Syria and Iraq, consolidating diplomatic authority for three countries in a single Ankara-based official. The move formalizes Barrack's existing regional role but raises questions about whether routing Iraq and Syria policy through Turkey's capital empowers a NATO ally with its own territorial interests at the expense of Kurdish partners and career diplomatic capacity already gutted by State Department staffing cuts.